Modern Leading Men & Women Codexery

Robert Downey Jr.

American actor and producer; recipient of an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and two BAFTA Awards.

Last updated

Robert Downey Jr.

via Wikipedia: List of awards and nominations received by Robert Downey Jr. · see source

Robert John Downey Jr. was born in Manhattan on April 4, 1965, to filmmaker Robert Downey Sr. and actress Elsie Ann Ford.[1] Downey's father gave him marijuana for the first time when he was six or eight years old; Downey later described sharing drugs with his father as "his way of showing love for me in the only manner he knew."[2]

Key facts and history

After his parents divorced when he was twelve, he lived with his mother in New York City.[3] He dropped out of Santa Monica High School in 1982 to pursue acting full-time.[3] In 1985, he joined the cast of Saturday Night Live but was dismissed after one season.[4] He was sentenced to a three-year prison term in 1999 for parole violations.[5]

In 2006, he was cast as the titular character in Iron Man, a role that catapulted him to global stardom.[6][7] At five years old, Downey's first acting job was playing a sick puppy in the 1970 absurdist comedy Pound.[8] When he was eleven and twelve, Downey went to the summer acting camp Stagedoor Manor.[8] Baby It's You* (1983) gave Downey his first role that appeared in a film's credits, but the majority of his performance was removed.[9]

For his performance as a wealthy young man struggling with drug addiction in the 1987 film Less than Zero, Downey received significant praise from critics.[4] Because he failed to take a drug test that a court had ordered in 1997, Downey was incarcerated for half a year in the Los Angeles County Jail.[10]

What the cited sources add

A 2000 interview with Downey while he was serving a three-year sentence for drug possession described the prison as "so desolate and sterile and depressing."[11] The same source noted that his son Indio had visited him twice in prison, accompanied by Downey's wife Deborah Falconer.[11] A 2003 Guardian article reported that Downey had been clean for more than two years with the help of therapy, meditation, 12-step recovery programs, yoga, and wing chun.[12] That article also stated that Downey's father had actively encouraged his early drug use.[12]

A 2004 CNN profile noted that Downey's father allowed him to try marijuana when he was six, an act Downey Sr. later said he deeply regretted.[13]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Robert Downey Jr." (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: McKoy, "Robert Downey Jr.: Life in pictures", Los Angeles Times, April 6, 2015; Duchovnay 2012, p. 129; Diamond, "Film: Robert Downey Jr. is Chaplin (on screen) and a child (off)", The New York Times, December 20, 1992; Welsh Whaley 2012, p. 69; Gates Jr. 2014, p. 144; Diamond, "Film: Robert Downey Jr. is Chaplin (on screen) and a child (off)", The New York Times, December 20, 1992; Jones, "Robert Downey Jr. leads tributes to his father Robert Downey Sr. who has died", NME, July 7, 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Robert Downey Jr." (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Falk 2014, p. 9–10; Garbarino, "Robert Downey Jr. Speaks From Prison", August 1, 2000; Falk 2014, p. 9–10; Blackwood, "All About Robert Downey Jr.'s Late Mom, Elsie Ford", People, June 8, 2024; Payne Gainey 2014, p. 100; Falk 2014, p. 9–10; "Actor's toughest role", CNN, 2004; Gliatto, "Hitting bottom", People, August 19, 1996; Fisher, "Robert Downey Jr. talks about addiction and passing it to his son", ABC News, September 9, 2014 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Robert Downey Jr." (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: MacDonald 2014, p. 270; Falk 2014, p. 9–10; Bystedt 1988, p. 26; Bystedt 1988, p. 26; Falk 2014, p. 9–10; "Transcripts: Encore Presentation: Robert Downey Jr.'s Life of Talent and Trouble", CNN, 14 July 2001; Falk 2014, p. 9–10; MacDonald 2014, p. 270; MacDonald 2014, p. 270 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Robert Downey Jr." (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: MacDonald 2014, p. 270; "Transcripts: Encore Presentation: Robert Downey Jr.'s Life of Talent and Trouble", CNN, 14 July 2001; Sheffield, "145. Robert Downey Jr. | 'Saturday Night Live': All 145 Cast Members Ranked", February 11, 2015; MacDonald 2014, p. 270; Hirschberg, "Robert Downey Jr.'s Weird Science of Acting", May 19, 1988; MacDonald 2014, p. 270; Downey, "'Less Than Zero' Addicts Reach Middle Age", NPR, July 31, 2010; Maslin, "Film: 'Less Than Zero', Young Lives", The New York Times, November 6, 1987; Ebert, "Less Than Ze en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Robert Downey Jr." (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Addicted Downey Jnr jailed", BBC News, August 6, 1999; "Downey gets 3 yr. prison term for parole violations", Variety, August 6, 1999 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Robert Downey Jr." (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fritz, "Iron hot for Downey", Variety, September 29, 2006; MacDonald 2014, p. 270 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Robert Downey Jr." (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: MacDonald 2014, p. 270; "Iron Man", Rotten Tomatoes, May 2, 2008; Kit, "Iron Man 3 goes back to basics in a quest to save the U.S.", April 23, 2013; "Iron Man 3 goes back to basics in a quest to save the U.S.", The Denver Post, April 23, 2013; Alexander, "Robert Downey Jr. is avenging alone in Iron Man 3", USA Today, May 1, 2013; Riesman, "What Will Marvel Be Without Robert Downey Jr.?", Vulture, May 7, 2019; Sharf, "Former Marvel Studios Boss Says Board 'Thought I Was Crazy' for Casting 'Addict' Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man Over Tim en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Robert Downey Jr." (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Diamond, "Film: Robert Downey Jr. Is Chaplin (on Screen) and a Child (Off)", The New York Times, December 20, 1992; MacDonald 2014, p. 270 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Robert Downey Jr." (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Greenwood, "TBT: Robert Downey Jr. makes stage acting debut at Geva", Democrat and Chronicle, February 18, 2016; MacDonald 2014, p. 270; MacDonald 2014, p. 270; MacDonald 2014, p. 270; "Transcripts: Encore Presentation: Robert Downey Jr.'s Life of Talent and Trouble", CNN, 14 July 2001; Germain, "Downey riding high on the comeback trail", The Seattle Times, October 23, 2005; MacDonald 2014, p. 270; MacDonald 2014, p. 270; MacDonald 2014, p. 270; MacDonald 2014, p. 270 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Robert Downey Jr." (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: MacDonald 2014, p. 270; Welkos, "Actor Robert Downey Jr. Given 6-Month Jail Term", Los Angeles Times, December 9, 1997; MacDonald 2014, p. 270; Garbarino, "Robert Downey Jr. Speaks From Prison", August 1, 2000; MacDonald 2014, p. 270 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Garbarino, "Robert Downey Jr. Speaks From Prison", August 1, 2000. facts only, no text reused. vanityfair.com
  12. Wilde, "More Than Skin Deep", The Guardian, November 8, 2003. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
  13. "Actor's toughest role", CNN, 2004. facts only, no text reused. cnn.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Robert Downey Jr. (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Named in this entry

The New York Times

More in Modern Leading Men & Women

Olivia ColmanOssie DavisPatricia ArquettePatricia HeatonPeter DinklagePhilip Seymour HoffmanRachel WeiszReese WitherspoonRegina KingRose McGowanRuby DeeRyan Gosling

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

Spotted an error? Know more?

Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced

Comments

Loading…
Open in the interactive codex →